Robotic Turf Equipment Co., alongside the National Robotic Engineering Center (NREC), is working to develop robotic technology to allow for unmanned operation of golf and commercial mowing equipment.
With the partnership in the works for about a year now, the NREC, a business unit of Carnegie Mellon University, has assigned scientists and engineers to the Robotic Turf Equipment Co. project. The technology will be implementable on reel mowers for golf course fairways, rotary mowers for golf course rough, mowing equipment for municipality or government use, zero turn riding mowers and large, wide area mowers, said Rick Cuddihe, president of Robotic Turf Equipment Co., which is a unit of Cuddihe’s Lafayette Consulting Co.
Cuddihe is no new name to the commercial turf product market.
In fact, he was involved as a contributor on the patents in the development of the Scag Power Equipment dual drive hydro mowers, the development of the Scag Turf Tiger rider series, the development of the Great Dane stand-on mower, the development the Great Dane Chariot and Chariot Jr.
As for his current endeavor, Cuddihe said it would be about 20 months before the technology is readily available in the market.
At that time Robotic Turf Equipment Co. will have exclusive rights to U.S. and worldwide patents issued to the NREC. It will offer patent licensing to manufactures via companies purchasing a paid-up, exclusive license or licensing a number of companies in a nonexclusive agreement.
